War art, seen from the author
The author of the book performs an analysis of the war, seeing it as an art, which although many would consider that there is not much more than shoot and fight, the author, Sun Tzu, point to point is showing how it is that it is a wholeart, because there are important factors on which the lives of each of those who participate in it depend and that not anyone can handle properly to keep their troops safe and dominating the enemy. Not only are it about factors that would be obvious to anyone, such as weapons, tanks and men, external factors such as climate and land are also very important.
It begins with the element that we could consider the most important, life;The death of troops could imply defeat and that is why it must be valued, considering it as the most dear and all this in term of five factors in order to have a perspective of the possibilities of defeat or victory. The factors are as follows:
The first is the doctrine, which according to what the author raises, it depends on that the people follow their ruler putting their lives at risk;The second is the time that Ying and Yang means, the weather and stations to which they are exposed;The third is the land, where it implies distances, places of easy or difficult transit;Then there is the command, which is a factor of the most important because whoever is in the lead must gather qualities such as wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and discipline so that he can succeed.
Another factor of utmost importance would be discipline, which is the fifth and last, which is understood as the organization, ranges, supply regulation, among others. All these factors must be dominated by then to leave victorious, because it is easy to deduce that side will be victorious by just observing, the wisest leader, the commander with greater talent, the army who has an advantage in the field and has a better regulation, as it isThe strongest and most trained and perhaps most importantly, the army that best manages rewards and punishments.
The latter by virtue that with the rewards will maintain the loyalty of their troops and with the punishments will retain their respect, to such a degree that, if he takes a man prisoner to a man from the opposite side and treats him well, he is seeing that his menIt offers great rewards, the prisoner in the future could fight against what was his side and thus expires the enemy and increases his troops and everything using the enemy to defeat himself.
On the other hand, the author makes a peculiar observation, that the art of war is based on deception, because it makes the enemy think that he is unable at the time of attacking, appearing inactivity when they are actually moving, making himbelieve that they are far when they are closer. Take advantage of the weaknesses and distractions that the enemy may also have worse to be wise enough to accept when the enemy is stronger and thus avoid it.
Perhaps that last feature is the most complicated to handle because it is difficult to recognize when the enemy is the one who predominates or is better prepared, but for that same reason it is one of the most important because although, I would like to demonstrate a force that they do not possess would take themto the defeat;This hand in hand with knowing when to go back, when stopping, because the author is right by saying that if he keeps his army fighting for a long time, he will exhaust them and his supplies and this will make them weak.
It is important not to attack with haste, all art takes time and this is no exception;It is necessary to take time to prepare artifacts, coordinate resources and train their men. But it must also be aware of the force it represents against enemy and thus be intelligent to allocate it, if it is ten times superior to that of the enemy, it is necessary to surround it;But if it is five times superior, then you must attack it, but if on the contrary it is only twice superior, then it is best to divide it and in case your forces are equal, you could fight. In case your forces are lower, it is best to keep up.
Although as the author points out, experts are able to overcome without the need to exercise their strength and that is the goal of a leader, although it can overcome many troops as if these were few, only if it is layers of dividing them into groups,organizing their own and coordinating their movements;It is easier if you force the enemy to attack in your territory, because it puts them at a disadvantage and it is necessary to use it against it while the environment favors you, if not instead of being beneficial, a great failure is.
To ensure that soldiers have strength and courage they have before having enthusiasm, conviction, order and resources;so that they can exploit their abilities and skills in tasks and responsibilities assigned according to the characteristics of each. The intelligent can plan, analyze and study, while the brave can fight;Everyone will have an important place which must be carefully assigned and if this is done correctly, victory will be facilitated.
This cunning must also be used in the battle strategy that will follow, so that they must according to what the author says, those who first arrive at the battlefield and wait for the enemy, have a great advantage because those who arrive last, improvise and fight exhausted, their strength will be empty;If the enemy has an advantage over his position, it is pertinent to tire it, if they are well feed them, leave them until they are hungry, when they rest, make them move. It is about being unpredictable and using anything that made them stay at a disadvantage and vulnerable.
Every maneuver is the result of plans and strategies that must be very well prepared to take advantage, taking into consideration from the height of a mountain, sunlight, any condition that can be unfavorable. Likewise, it is necessary to take care of the health of the soldiers in the best possible way, since it would be unfortunate that in addition to fighting with the enemy, it had to be dealing with a disease, enjoyable that it is in enemy troops, then it should be used, learn to read the signs that the enemy is in a disadvantage situation.
It will be essential that when established somewhere the characteristics of the land are valued, so that it is favorable, in case of accessible land, it must be the first to establish itself there, it must also facilitate the transportation of supplies, but if on the other hand both bothsides are found in difficult terrain, it is said that it is a neutral terrain. There are all kinds of land and each one as bad as it is, the benefit of the enemy should be taken out of the benefit of.
We can conclude that the war as rightly titled to the book The author is an art, because it depends on many elements that we did not imagine, it is very complex. It depends mainly on a good leader, who adopts the best characteristics, so also take as the most important, the life of their men, because they are with those who will fight.
But not only depends on that, because it can have the best weapons, but if you do not spend time to train, there is no good discipline and do not adopt good strategies, everything will be against you;Pride is a risk factor because not being advantage means that they already have the victory, because even the field in which they are located can be something that influences that they are vulnerable. It is about deceiving the enemy, analyzing, planning and looking for ways to take advantage and sabotage it, as well as support and care for their soldiers.
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